Method and apparatus for making equipment connections at remote underwater locations and for producing fluids from underwater wells



United States Patent Inventor Ronald I.. Fowler paratus. A male sectionor an electrical connector contains at Houston. Tex. least two angularlyspaced-apart prongs surrounded by electri- 1 N 768,764 callynonconductive material. Each prong comprises a coil ar- Oct. 18, I968ranged around a metallic (magnetic) core. A mating female Patented Dec.29. 1970 section of the electrical connector engageable with the maleEsso Production Research Company section contains at least two angularlyspaced-apart holes formed in an electrically nonconductive material. Acoil im- [22] Filed [73] Assignee bedded in the nonconductive materialis arranged around each hole. The coils of each section may be orientedlinearly instead of angularly. One section is connected to a source ofAC electrical power and the other section is connected to PRODUCINGFLUIDS FROM UNDERWATER apparatus to be operated by electrical power. Theother see- WELLS tion is installed near such apparatus which may be at aremote 14 Claims, 5 8 underwater location. The one section connected tothe source 52] us. 166/.6, of AC is t engaged with the Section hereby 33nect the source of electrical power and the equipment to be operated.The connection may be made underwater by hand,

by divers, by mechanical means or hydraulically by pumping the onesection connected to the AC power source through a conduit. The latterhydraulic technique may also be used in 336/l07. [5|] E2lb43/0l [50]l66/.5,.6; l37/236;6l/72.3. 72.4; 336/48, 82, 107,115,192

making surface electrical connections remotely for the conduit may be asurface pipeline. A fixed template is arranged on the sea floor andprovided with pipe connections to at least [56] 1 References CitedUNlTED STATES PATENTS one subsea well and to a surface terminal forproduced fluids. A movable template, capable of being lowered to asubmerged position on the fixed template and raised therefrom to the seasurface, is provided with sealed fluid-processing equipment havingintake and discharge fluid conduits connected thereto.

Primary Examiner-Ernest R. Purser AuomeysThomas B. McCulloch, Melvin F.Fincke, John S. Guide means are provided for lowering and raising themova- Schneider, Sylvester W. Brock,Jr., Kurt S. Myers and ble templateonto and from the fixed template. When so ar- Timothy L. Burgess ranged,one of the pipe connections is connected to the inlet conduit of theprocessing equipment and the other pipe connection is connected to thedischarge conduit thereof. One v section of the electrical connector isarranged on the fixed ABSTRACT: Method and apparatus for use in makingelectritemplate and the other section thereof is mounted on the calconnections particularly at remote locations and/or under movabletemplate. When the movable template is arranged on water. Also, methodand apparatus for remotely processing mmm d M S 0;.M n S 0 I a e e CELL7978 4466 9999 IIII 095 9529 36 33 4394 I838 .3 2233 the fixed template,the mating sections of the electrical confiuids produced from subseawells and for servicing such apnector are engaged for transmission ofelectrical power.

FR OM POWER SOURCE TO SERVICE PATENTEU 05029 I910 SHEET 1 OF 2 FROMPOWER SOURCE FIG.

INVENIOR. RONALD L. FOWLER,

Y K ATTORNEY.

FIG. '2.

PATENTED DEC29 I970 sum 2 UF 2 DISCHARGE LINE E D N 0 U9 R 7 E M w W U GG E N L 5 T 9 O H FLOWLINE FIG. 4-.

INVIZN'IOR. RONALD L. FOWLER,

ATTORNEY.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention generally concernselectrical connections, and more particularly, method and apparatus formaking electrical connections at remote locations. The invention alsoconcerns method and apparatus for making electrical connectionsunderwater. i

There are today many applications for making electrical connections atremote locations and particularly underwater remote electricalconnections. Electrical connections that can be readily made underwater,and remotely, facilitate use of submerged equipment for producing wells,including electrically operated valves, pumps, lights, television,production control devices, etc. The present invention provides a simplesolution for making remote electrical connections and for makingelectrical connections underwater, and is particularly advantageous foruse in offshore oil and gas exploration and drilling operations.

In addition, the present invention concerns operation and servicing ofsubmerged fluid-processing equipment used in offshore oil and gasproduction operations.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION adapted to engage with a sealed female sectionof the connector which includes at least two angularly spaced-apartholes formed in electrically nonconductive material, each of which issurrounded by inductance coils which are electrically sealed off by thenonconductive material. One of the sections is electrically connected toan AC current source and the other section is electrically connected toequipment to be supplied with electric power. The coils of the male andfemale sections are sealed in the nonconductive material so that theconnection may be made without having to alter the conductiveenvironment of underwater operations. When the connection is madeunderwater, it may be made by divers or robots or by lowering onesection through the water to engage the other section by means ofguidelines, or by pumping one section through a conduit to the othersection which is remotely positioned in that conduit. Alternately, thecoils of the mating sections may be oriented linearly instead ofangularly. When the connection 7 has been made between the sectionseither by moving the male section to the female section, or vice versa,and AC current is applied, current change in one of the circuitsproduces an induced e.m.f. in the other circuit through mutualinductance between the two sets of coils.

Also, in accordance with the teachings of the invention, a first memberprovided with a pipeline connection to at least one subsea well and apipeline connection to a terminal for produced well fluids at the seasurface is fixed or arranged on the sea floor. A second member on whichis arranged well fluid-processing equipment having intake and dischargefluid conduits connected thereto is removably arranged on the firstmember, Guide means are provided for positioning the second member ontothe first member. When the first and second members are engaged, one ofthe pipe connections is connected to the intake fluid conduitand theother pipe connection is connected to the discharge fluid conduit. Onesection of a two-part electrical connector is mounted on the firstmember and the other mating section is mounted on the second member sothat when the first and second members are engaged, the electricalconnector parts are engaged and the electrical connection is made. Thefirst and second members are preferably templates and the secondtemplate is removable for the purpose of removing processing equipmentto the water surface for servicing of such equipment.

The objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from a moredetailed description thereof when taken with the drawings wherein:

- BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. I is a schematic illustration ofone embodiment of the electrical connector of the invention prior tomakeup;

FIG. 2 is a top view of the female section of the electrical .connectorof FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an isometric view of the electrical connector shown in FIGS. Iand 2;

FIG. 4 illustrates another embodiment of the invention in which themating coils of the electrical connector are linearly arranged; and

FIG. 5 illustrates use of the electrical connectors illustrated in FIGS.1 to 4 in the remote (underwater) processing of fluids produced fromsubsea wells.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring to the drawings ingreater detail, in FIGS. 1 to 3 is shown an electrical connectorgenerally designated 10. This connector includes a male section 11containing three spacedapart prongs l2, l3 and 14, each comprising amagneticmetallic core 16a, b, c, about which is wound a coil of wire17a, b, c. Each core and coil of wire is surrounded by insulatingnonconductive material 18, such as rubber, to electrically seal the malesection. Connector 10 also includes a female section 19 comprisingnonconductive material 20, such as rubber, provided with three angularlyspaced-apart holes or openings 21, 22 and 23, each surrounded by a coilof wire 24a, b, c. Nonconductive material 20 electrically seals thesecoils. Leads 25a, b, c connect one of theends of coils 17a, b, c to anAC power source. The other ends of coils 17a, b, c are connectedtogether by leads 28a, b, c. Leads 29a, b, 0 connect one of the ends ofcoils 24a, b, c to subsurface equipment to be supplied with electricalpower. The other ends of coil 24a, b, c are connected together by leads30a, b, c. Alternately, leads 29a, b, 0 could be connected to the ACpower source and leads 25a, b, 0 could be connected to the subsurfaceequipment to be serviced with electrical power.

As shown in FIG. 3, a latch mechanism 35 may be provided to latchsections 11 and 19 together once they have become engaged. When soengaged, the connection is equivalent to a three-phase powertransformer. Any desired electrical circuitry, Y, "A," V, or Tconnections, maybe used to achieve the desired output voltage and numberof phases. The three-hole AC illustration in FIG. 3 shows the Y Yelectrical arrangement. It may be desired to make a remote electricalconnection of this type for the purpose of transmitting electrical powerto operate motors or for transmitting information signals across theelectrical connection. Such information signals may be used, forexample, to convey the status of the subsea equipment or to controloperation of the subsea equipment.

In a typical underwater operation, one section (male or female) ispositioned on or near the submerged equipment located on the ocean floorto which such section is electrically connected. The other section,wired to an AC source of power, is then brought into engagement with theone section previously located on the ocean floor and latched thereto bylatch mechanism 35. The electrical connection in accordance with theinvention may be made by divers or robots or by lowering the othersection through the water from the surface thereof on guide cables or byuse of an acoustic or other signabtype guidance system.

The electrical connection may also be made by hydraulically transportingone section to the remotely positioned other section through a conduit.Such conduit. may be a flowline connecting above-water installations tobelow-water well equipment or for surface operations may be a pipelineor other type conduit forming a closed passageway between two separatedpoints. A technique for running such equipment through a conduit isdisclosed and claimed in application Ser. No. 746,097, entitled, Methodand Apparatus for Running a Line Through a Conduit, by Bielstein et al.,filed July 19, 1968. Also, the coils of the connector sections may bearranged linearly instead of angularly. These modifications areillustrated in FIG. 4 where there is shown a pipeline 40 in which isarranged a male connector section 45 containing three linearlyspaced-apart coils of wire 46, 47, 48, each surrounding a magnetic core49, 50, 51 arranged in nonconductive material 52. Section 45 acts as apiston and is forced through pipeline 40 upon the application of fluidpressure behind it (in the direction indicated by the arrowed lines).Three leads indicated at 53 connect to the coils of wire 46, 47, 48 atone end thereof and at theother end thereof to a remote source of ACelectrical power. Downstream of section 45, pipeline 40 is formed of anonconductive, nonmagnetic section 55 provided with stop 56 andspring-loaded latch members 57. The female section 60 of the connectoris arranged in the nonmagnetic section 55 of pipeline 40 and it includesthree linearly spaced-apart coils 61, 62, 63 imbedded in electricallynonconductive material 64. Three leads indicated at 65a, b, c areconnected at one end to coils 61, 62, 63, respectively, and at the otherend to equipment to be serviced by the electrical power induced in coils61, 62, 63. A bypass conduit 70 is connected to and communicates witheither side of section 60.

In the operation of this embodiment of the invention section 60 isinstalled in the portion 55 of pipeline 40. Pipeline 40 may be asubmerged flow line arranged on the floor of the ocean. When it isdesired to make the electrical connection, section 45 is pumped throughflow line 40 from the surface of the water until the forward end ofsection 45 engages stop 56. In that position of section 45,spring-loaded member 57 engages the rear of section 45 and locks the twosections of the electrical connection in place. Fluid flowingthroughpipeline 40 bypasses this connection through bypass conduit 70.

Use of the electrical connection in the remote pumping of underwaterwells is illustrated in FIG. 5. There is shown in this FIG. arectangular or square plate member 75 secured to the ocean floor byspikes or driven piling 76 connected to each comer of plate member 75.The apparatus shown and described with respect to FIG. 4 is arranged onplate member 75. This apparatus includes a pipeline or flow line 40',female section 60', bypass conduit 70 and electrical leads 65a, b, Flowline.40' terminates in a pipe connector 77. Each corner of plate member75 is provided with a guide rod 78, to each of which is connected aguideline 79. Also arranged on plate member 75 is a male section 80 ofan electrical connector 11', to which leads 650', b, c are alsoconnected. Male section 80 is the same as the male section 11 of FIGS. 1and 2. Also, another pipe connector 81 and a discharge flow line 82 arepermanently affixed to plate member 75. An upper plate member,preferably square or rectangular in shape, 85 has a guide sleeve 86mounted on each corner thereof and a plurality of spacers 87 on itsunderside. Guidelines 79 extend through guide sleeves 86. On platemember 585, removable replaceable equipment including a pump 88 andmotor 89 are mounted. A female section 90 of electrical connector 11' isalso mounted on plate member 85. Its leads are connected to motor 89within sealed housing 91. Motor 89 drives pump 88 by means of shaft 92.Pump 88 is provided with an intake conduit 93 which, when plate member85 is in position on plate member 75, sealingly engages pipe connector77. Similarly, a discharge line 94 from pump 88 sealingly engages pipeconnector 81 when plate member 85 is in position on plate member 75.Also, when plate member 85 is in that position, the prongs of malesection 80 engage the holes in the female section 90 to complete theelectrical connection. Remote pipe or flow line connectors such as 77and 81 which permit pipe sections to be separated and then sealinglyjoined together again are known and may be of the type shown anddescribed on page 1105 of the Composite Catalog of Oil FieldEquippipeline 40 on ment and Services, 1968, published by World Oil andin the Cameron Marine Systems" brochure referenced therein.

Plate member and the equipment associated therewith are raised andlowered on guidelines 79 by a hoist line 95 shown connected to thehousing of motor 89.

When it is desired to service pump 88 and/or motor 89 or to replace oneor both of these units, plate member 85 is raised to the water surfaceby means of hoist line 95. In that procedure, female section ofelectricalconnector 11 is separated from the male section'thereof andpipe connectors 77 and 81 are separated from the intake and dischargeconduits, respectively, of pump'88. After repairs orreplacements havebeen made to pump 88 and/o'r'motor 89, plate member" 85 is lowered onguidelines 79 by hoist line until spacers 89 rest upon plate member 75.In that position the prongs of male section 80 engage the holes offemale section 90 and pipe connectors 77 and 81 sealingly connectwith-intake conduits 93 and 94, respectively. If the male section of theother electrical connector is not in position within the female section60', it is pumped through flow line 40' to place it within the femalesection. The fluid flowing through flow-line 40 flows through bypassconduit 70' and into intake'conduit 93 of pump 88. When it is desired tooperate pump 88, a source of AC electrical power, preferably from a 220-Voltpower source, is trans mitted through leads 53 to thecoilsin'female section 60' to thereby induce a voltage in the coils ofthe male section. This voltage is transmitted to the connector 80through leads 65a, b, c which in turn induces a voltage in ,the coils ofthe female section 90, which power is then transmitted to the motor 89to operate it and thence the pump 88 through shaft 92 to pump fluidthrough the intake conduit 93, discharge line 94, through the pipeconnector 81 and to the dispharge line 82. Other fluid-processingequipment, such as flowr'neters, separators, dehydration units (naturalgas), etc., "may be carried on removable plate member 85 in addition toor in substitutio for pump 88.

Changes and modifications may be made in the specific illustrativeembodiments of the invention shown'and described herein withoutdeparting from the scope of the invention as defined in the appendedclaims. Thus, instead of using three coils in each section, only twocoils or more than three coils may be used in each section. Also,instead of using a 220-Volt power source, a llO-Volt power source mightbe used. The pump intake and discharge lines 93 and 94 may be reversedso as to permit pumping fluid from discharge line 82 into pipeline 40.Although only two flow lines and one pump are used for purposes ofillustration, additional pumps and/or other fluidprocessing equipmentunits and inlet and outlet flow lines attached thereto are contemplatedby this invention. Further, means other than guidelines, such as anacoustic or other signal-type guidance system, may be used to positionplate member 85 properly on plate member 75.

I claim:

1. Apparatus for remotely processing fluids produced from subsea wellsand connecting subsea equipment components comprising:

a first member fixed on the sea floor provided with a pipelineconnection to at least one subsea well and another pipeline connectionto a terminal for produced well fluids at the sea surface;

a second member providedwith processing equipment for said produced wellfluids having intake and discharge fluid conduits connected thereto;

guide means for positioning said second member onto said first member,in which position one of said pipelines connects to said intake fluidconduit and the other of said pipelines connects to said discharge fluidconduit; and

one section of an electrical connector mounted on said first member anda second section of said electrical connector mounted on said secondmember, said sections of said electrical connector being engageable witheach other when said first and second members are engaged such that ACcurrent applied to one section produces an induced e.m.f. in said othersection, said one section being connected to a source of AC current andsaid other section being connected to at least one of said subseaequipment components for electrical operation thereof.

2. Apparatus as recited in claim 1 in which said first and secondmembers are templates.

3, Apparatus as recited in claim 2 in which said equipment includespumping means adapted to transmit well fluids from said subsea well tosaid terminal for produced well fluids through said pipelines.

4. Apparatus as recited in claim 2 in which said guide means includesguide lines, guide rods, guide sleeves and a hoist line.

5. Apparatus as recited in claim 2 in which said guide means is signalcontrolled.

6. Apparatus as recited in claim 1 in which one of said connectorsections includes at least two spaced-apart magnetic cores, eachsurrounded by a first coil of wire, and both said cores and said firstcoils being surrounded by electrically, nonconductive material to sealoff said cores and coils electrically; and said other connector sectionincluding at least two spaced-apart second coils surrounded byelectrically nonconductive material to seal off said second coilselectrically.

7. Apparatus as recited in claim 6 in which one of said con-= nectorsections includes at least two angularly spaced-apart prongs, each prongcomprising a magnetic core, a coil of wire surrounding each magneticcore and electrically nonconductive material surrounding said cores andsaid coils; said other connector section includes electricallynonconductive material containing at least two angularly spaced-apartholes about each of which a coil of wire is arranged; and said prongsbeing adapted to be inserted in said holes when said first and secondconnector sections are engaged.

8. Apparatus as recited in claim 7 in which one of said connectorsections contains three spaced-apart prongs and said other connectorsection contains three holes for accommodation of said three prongs.

9. Apparatus as recited in claim 8 in which said connector sections areprovided with latch means adapted to latch said connectors to eachother.

10. Apparatus as recited in claim 1 inwhich said coils of said connectorsections are linearly spaced-apart.

11. Apparatus as recited in claim 10 in which one of said connectorsections contains three coils and said other connector section containsthree coils.

12. Apparatus as recited in claim 10 in which one of said connectorsections is pumpable through a pipeline.

13. A method for servicing apparatus used to process remotely fluidsproduced from said subsea wells and connecting subsea equipmentcomponents comprising the steps of:

arranging on the sea floor a first template containing a flow lineconnection to at least one subsea well and a flow line connection to aterminal for produced well fluids at the sea surface;

lowering and installing a removable second template on said firsttemplate, said second template containing well fluidprocessing equipmentand means adapted to connect said well fluid-processing equipment tosaid flow line connections;

retrieving said removable second template to the water surface for thepurpose of servicing said well fluid processing equipment;

reinstalling said second template on said first template followingservicing of said processing equipment; and

arranging on said first template one section of an electrical connectorand arranging on said second template another section of said electricalconnector, said connector sections, when engaged, comprising at leasttwo sets of inductance coils arranged such that application of ACcurrent to one set of coils induces an e.m.f. in the other set of coils,said connector sections being engaged when said second template islowered and installed on said first template, said one section beingconnected to a source of AC current and said other section beingconnected to at least one of said subsea equipment components forelectrical operation thereof.

14. A method for remotely connecting subsea equipment componentscomprisinglthe ste s of:

arranging on the sea oor a irst template containing a flow lineconnection to at least one subsea well and a flow line connection to aterminal for produced well fluids at the sea surface;

lowering and installing a removable second template on said firsttemplate, said second template containing well fluid processingequipment and means adapted to connect said well fluid processingequipment to said flow line connections;

retrieving said removable second template to the water surface for thepurpose of servicing said well fluid processing equipment;

arranging in a subsea conduit located on said first template one sectionof an electrical connector; and

pumping another section of said electrical connector to said conduitfrom a remote location until said connector sections engage, saidconnector sections, when engaged, comprising at least two sets ofinductance coils arranged such that application of AC current to one setof coils induces an e.m.f. in the other set of coils, said other sectionbeing connected to a source of AC current and said one section beingconnected to at least one of said subsea equipment components forelectrical operation thereof.

